How to keep a healthy daily water balance
The daily intake of sufficient amounts of water is highly important for your overall health and wellness. Sometimes it might be difficult to stick to the recommended daily water intake. If you want to make sure that you maintain a healthy water balance every day, then the following tips can be extremely useful:
Drink water instead of sugary beverages
Stay away from fruit drinks, non-diet or regular soft drinks, sports drinks, and other sugary beverages as much as possible. Never replace water with such drinks. By choosing water over the mentioned beverages, you can hydrate yourself plus you can save money and prevent the intake of more calories.
Carry a water bottle all the time
This advice is helpful whether you are outdoors or indoors. By having a bottle filled with water all the time, you can easily access it whether you are at work, at home, or any outdoor area.
Make water more interesting by adding fresh and tasty ingredients
If you are not that fond of drinking just plain and tasteless water, then you can make it even more interesting by mixing “infused water” which means adding some more aroma by adding healthy ingredients which add to the taste. Cucumber, citrus wedges, some sliced fruits or veggies add a great taste and their healthy vitamins and minerals to the water. This strategy can help making the drink more interesting and enjoyable and thereby encouraging you to increase your water intake.
Drink more water if you are exercising
Instead of sticking to the recommended 8 glasses of water daily, increase your water consumption if you exercise every day. Drink it during, before, and after your workout. You need water to stay hydrated if you are physically active.
Set reminders
Another effective tip to increase your intake of water or maintain a healthy daily water balance is to set alarms or reminders on when you should drink. You can use the alarm or an app on your smartwatch or phone.
For instance, set a reminder that you should take some water every thirty minutes or so. Another tip is to set an alarm to remind you to finish any remaining water in your present glass. Remind yourself that you should refill the glass every hour or so, too.
Drink before each meal
You can also further increase your water consumption by committing to drinking one glass of water every mealtime. If you have three scheduled meals daily, then doing this tip can surely add three more glasses of water into your system. It is a great strategy if you plan to lose weight, too, since it makes you feel full faster during each meal.
Water is a vital component in your health and wellness. With that in mind, make it a habit to drink the required number of glasses, or probably a bit more every day. By keeping the tips in mind, organizing and maintaining a healthy daily water balance will surely be easier.
Hydration FAQ
Why is it important to stay hydrated?
Your body uses the water found in beverages and foods to regulate your body’s temperature and enable the transport of vital nutrients to every cell in your body.
Your body is constantly losing water, from sweat to the tiny droplets that escape your body every time you exhale. You need to replace at least as much water as you lose each day, and even take in a little more, to keep your health in balance. That’s why proper hydration is extremely important.
What happens if you don’t drink enough water?
If you don’t drink enough fluids, you will lose water faster than you can replenish it. Not drinking enough fluids can lead to dehydration. Dehydration can show up in many different symptoms, including dry mucous membranes, significantly decreased sweat production, and dry mouth.
If you are dehydrated for too long, it can lead to even more serious conditions such as extreme muscle weakness, confusion, muscle stiffness, hallucinations and even delirium. In the most extreme cases, a person can even die from severe dehydration. Even though death from severe dehydration is easily preventable, it can have serious consequences.
How can you tell if you’re dehydrated?
Probably the best and easiest indicator of dehydration or even severe dehydration is the amount of urine you produce and how often you urinate. If you suddenly notice that you’re not going to the bathroom as often as usual, you may be dehydrated.
You can also pay attention to the appearance of your urine. If your urine is almost clear, you can assume that you are well hydrated. However, if your urine is darker than usual, you need to drink more water.
Does the weather affect your hydration?
Yes, you sweat more when the weather is warmer than usual. But you can also get dehydrated when it’s cold outside. If you like to snowboard or ski and do other outdoor activities in the winter, you can still sweat under your heavy clothing. The problem with this is that because of the cold, you may not drink enough water to replace the amount you lose.
Even if it’s cold outside, you need to watch for signs of dehydration, such as mild fatigue and headaches. Recognize these signs early, because winter dehydration can escalate quickly.
Is coffee a hydrating drink?
Too much coffee is not good because coffee is a diuretic, which means it can stimulate urine output. In other words, coffee makes you urinate more than usual. All caffeinated beverages are diuretic, but that’s usually not so bad.
The water content of most caffeinated drinks is usually more than enough to make up for the amount you excrete. In fact, if you try to avoid caffeinated drinks altogether, you may end up even more dehydrated. Find the balance.
